How Much We Spent in 2 Weeks in Japan: Full Budget Breakdown

Updated April 2026 | 5 min read

People kept telling us Japan was expensive. Then the yen collapsed, and suddenly our 2023 trip cost less than we expected. Here is exactly what we spent across 14 days in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Hakone as a couple traveling mid-range — not hostels, not five-star, but comfortable hotels and good food without overthinking every purchase.

The Bottom Line: $6,840 Total for Two People, 14 Days

That is $244 per person per day, all in. Flights included. No corners cut on food. We rode the Shinkansen, stayed in actual hotel rooms with private bathrooms, and ate at restaurants that had lines out the door. The weak yen did most of the heavy lifting — as of 2025-2027, USD holders are still getting roughly 25-30% more purchasing power than they would have five years ago.

Full Budget Breakdown

Category	Total (2 people)	Per Person/Day	Notes
Flights (LAX-NRT round trip)	$1,680	—	ANA via United, booked 3 months out
Accommodation (13 nights)	$1,950	$75/night avg	Mix of business hotels and one ryokan
JR Pass (14-day)	$740	—	Covered all Shinkansen + local JR lines
Local Transport (metro, bus)	$180	$6.40/day	Suica cards, Kyoto bus passes
Food & Drinks	$1,260	$45/day	Convenience stores + izakayas + ramen + one splurge
Activities & Admission	$520	$18.50/day	Temples, teamLab, Fushimi Inari tours
Shopping & Souvenirs	$310	—	Don Quijote runs, station snacks, gifts
SIM/eSIM	$40	—	Airalo Japan eSIM, 10GB
Travel Insurance	$160	—	World Nomads, 14-day policy

Where the Money Went: Category by Category

Flights: $1,680

We flew ANA out of LAX, booked through United about three months before departure. Direct flights to Tokyo were running $1,100-1,400 per person at the time. We got $840 each with one connection in San Francisco. If you are flexible on dates, use Skyscanner’s Everywhere search to find the cheapest departure window. January and early February consistently have the lowest fares.

Hotels: $1,950 for 13 Nights

Our average was $150 per night for a double room. In Tokyo, we stayed at a Tokyu Stay in Shinjuku ($130/night) which had a washer-dryer in the room — a detail that saved us from packing heavy. In Kyoto, we booked a machiya-style guesthouse near Gion for $120/night. The splurge was one night at a ryokan in Hakone with a private onsen at $280. Worth it once; would not do it for multiple nights.

Reddit travelers in 2025 are reporting business hotels in Tokyo at $80-120/night and Kyoto at $90-140/night. The weak yen keeps this reasonable. Book through Booking.com or Agoda — Japanese hotels list on both, but Agoda sometimes has lower rates for Asia properties.

JR Pass: $740

The 14-day JR Pass was $370 per person. Japan raised JR Pass prices significantly in late 2023, so this is no longer the slam-dunk deal it used to be. Run your routes through the Japan Guide calculator before buying. If you are only doing Tokyo-Kyoto round trip with no other Shinkansen rides, individual tickets might be cheaper. We used ours for Tokyo-Hakone, Hakone-Kyoto, Kyoto-Nara, Kyoto-Osaka, and Osaka-Tokyo, which made the pass pay for itself by day five.

Food: $1,260

This was where Japan shocked us. You can eat extraordinarily well for very little. Our daily food spend averaged $45 for both of us combined. Breakfast was almost always 7-Eleven onigiri and coffee ($4 total). Lunch was ramen, udon, or a bento from a department store basement ($8-12 per person). Dinner was the variable — izakayas in Shinjuku ran $15-25 per person including drinks. Our one big splurge meal at a sushi counter in Tsukiji was $90 for two, and it was the best meal of the trip.

Current Reddit reports from 2025-2027 confirm these numbers still hold. Convenience store food in Japan remains absurdly good and cheap — $3-5 for a full meal that would cost $12 anywhere in the US.

Activities: $520

Most temples charge 300-600 yen ($2-4) admission. The real costs were teamLab Borderless ($32/person), a Fushimi Inari guided tour ($45/person via Viator), and a cooking class in Osaka ($60/person). Many of the best experiences in Japan — walking through Arashiyama bamboo grove, exploring Dotonbori at night, wandering Yanaka — are completely free.

What We Would Do Differently to Save Money

1. Skip the JR Pass and buy individual tickets. With the 2023 price hike, the math only works if you are taking three or more long-distance Shinkansen rides. We would have saved about $80 buying point-to-point.

2. Stay in one neighborhood per city. We moved hotels in Tokyo (Shinjuku to Asakusa) and the taxi between them with luggage cost $40 we did not need to spend.

3. Get an eSIM before landing. We bought a physical SIM at the airport for more than double what Airalo charges. Set up the eSIM on your phone before you board.

4. Eat more at depachika. Department store basement food halls sell restaurant-quality bento boxes for $6-8. We discovered this on day 10 and wished we had known on day one.

5. Use IC cards everywhere. Load a Suica or Pasmo card and tap for trains, buses, convenience stores, and vending machines. It is faster and you avoid fumbling with coins.

Is Japan Actually Affordable Right Now?

Yes. As of 2027, the yen remains weak against the dollar, and Japan is one of the best value destinations in Asia for American travelers. Mid-range travelers spending $200-250/day for two people will eat well, stay comfortably, and see everything they want. Budget travelers can absolutely do it for $100-120/day for two if they stick to business hotels and convenience store meals.

We have written more about the logistics in our Japan in 14 Days overview post, and if you are planning your own trip, our What I’d Do Differently: Lessons from 11 Destinations post covers the mistakes we made across all our trips.

Gear That Saved Us Money

A good set of packing cubes meant we could travel carry-on only and skip checked bag fees entirely. A refillable water bottle was essential — tap water in Japan is safe to drink and vending machine purchases add up fast. And proper walking shoes are non-negotiable when you are averaging 20,000 steps a day across train stations and temple grounds.

For currency exchange, we used Wise to convert USD to JPY at the mid-market rate and withdrew from 7-Eleven ATMs. Zero markup, and it saved us roughly $50 compared to airport exchange counters.

Keep Reading

• Is the JR Pass Still Worth It in 2028? I Did the Math
• Best Multi-City Train Routes Worth Taking

Affiliate disclosure: This post contains affiliate links at no extra cost to you. SafetyWing, Skyscanner, Airalo, Booking.com, Viator.

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